Tennessee senior Deandre Johnson has made an impact on the Vols’ defense this season.
He has totaled eight tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, forced one fumble and has recorded one quarterback hit. He won SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors following the Vols’ season-opening win at South Carolina.
Last week, Johnson was disqualified for targeting against Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.
His disqualification at JACK linebacker altered Tennessee’s defense for the remaining of the game with its LEO scheme, a position that is being used within the Vols’ defense this season.
A LEO is a tweener of a defensive end and a linebacker and can apply pressure on the quarterback as an edge rusher. The position can allow for a 3-4 scheme to have 4-3 tendencies with the same personnel. A LEO is usually on the boundary-side.
In Nickel formations, the SAM/BUCK goes to the field-side, however when a LEO is used, he goes to the weak-side and the bigger defensive end, LaTrell Bumphus, will go to the strong-side.
The JACK typically plays on the boundary-side, while the SAM is on the field-side. This is when the LEO takes place of the JACK, which was Johnson in the Georgia game before being sidelined.
Having a LEO position against a team like Georgia and Todd Monken’s offense can help defend when the Bulldogs are in pro-style sets and when they use Air Raid passing attack concepts.
